Industrial Chemistry

Fermentation Processes

And

Their Application

Submitted by: Rei Marie G. Recede

Submitted to: Engr. Dexter Taguding

OBJECTIVE:

 Know and understand fermentation

 Know its history
 Know the products that can be produced from this process
 Know the effects of fermented foods

Introduction

Fermentation is one of the oldest methods of food preservation and

preparation. It gives food a variety of flavors, tastes, textures, sensory attributes, and
nutritional and therapeutic values (Mehta, Iwański & Kamal-Eldin, 2012). The term
“fermentation” is derived from the Latin word fervere or fermentum, which means
“to boil”.

Food fermentation involves chemical transformation of complex organic

compounds into simpler compounds through the action of enzymes, organic
catalysts produced by microorganisms including yeast, moulds, and bacteria
(Corma, Iborra, & Velty, 2007). Fermented foods, as defined by Campbell-Platt
(1987), are those that have been subjected to the action of microorganisms or
enzymes so that desirable changes cause significant modification in the food.

The basic aim of fermented foods is to increase storage stability and

modifying organoleptic and textural properties of raw materials. It involves the use of
bacteria and yeast (fungi). Microbial fermentation can be homofermentative –
single main product, or heterofermentative – mixed products
(Pohorecki, Bridgwater, Molzahn, Gani & Gallegos, 2010). Mainly, fermentation
produces organic acids, ethyl alcohol and carbon dioxide. The most important are
lactic acid and ethanolic fermentations. Lactic acid fermentation is a process wherein
a group of bacteria ferment carbohydrates with lactic acid as the major end product
(Viniegra, 1984). The rapid acidification that results from the lactic acid bacteria
(LAB) metabolism suppresses the growth of antagonistic microbiota (Paramithiotis,
2017). It is used in the fermentation of milk, vegetables, cereals, meat and fish.
Alcoholic fermentation, on the other hand, is the anaerobic transformation of sugars
(glucose and fructose) into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The process is carried out by
yeast and by some bacteria such as Zymomonas mobilis (Moreno-Ambas & Polo,
2008).

Industrial fermentation can either be aerobic or anaerobic processes. It is a

term used in chemical engineering that describes the process operations that utilize
a chemical change induced by a living organism or enzyme (bacteria, yeast, moulds
or fungi) which produce a specified product (Pohorecki et. al, 2010).

Microorganisms that are used in industrial fermentation:

  Bacteria – Acetobacter, Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, Bacillus,
Microoccus
 Yeast – Saccharomyces, Candida, Hansenula
 Mould – Aspergillus, Penicillium, Mucor, Monascus, Rhizopus

History

Fermentation was discovered by chance (Hesseltine & Wang, 1967). At the

time, there was no explanation on how fermentation worked in preserving the natural
resources. It was carried out without understanding microbial mechanisms.
Historically, the products of fermentation were mainly food products, however,
through years, an increased production of bulk chemicals (ethanol and other
solvents), specialty chemicals (pharmaceuticals, industrial enzymes), biofuel and
food additives was observed.

The science of fermentation is called zymology and the first zymologist was
Louis Pasteur. Fermentation was defined by Louis Pasteur as La vie sans I’air
meaning “life without air” (Bourdichon et al., 2012). In 1857, Pasteur discovered that
fermentation was associated with living yeast. He demonstrated that fermentation
could also produce lactic acid, which makes wines sour. Furthermore, he showed
that the growth of microorganisms was responsible for spoiling beverages, such as
beer, wine and milk.

The understanding of the role of enzymes in fermentation inspired the

experiment of the German chemists Hans and Eduard Buchner in 1896. Eduard
Buchner demonstrated that fermentation can be brought about using lifeless
chemicals rather than the living yeast, in contrast to Pasteur’s claim. Buchner gave
the name zymase to the enzyme used by yeast to convert sugar to alcohol.
According to his experiment, fermentation process did not require life. In 1907, a
Russian microbiologist Elie Metchnikoff isolated Lactobacillus from fermented milk.
His work was regarded as the birth of probiotics which put a scientific basis on the
beneficial effect of yogurt. Probiotic, as defined by Fuller (1989), is ‘a live microbial
feed supplement which beneficially affects the host animal by improving its intestinal
microbial balance’.

The first fermentation process was the production of beer in Babylonia,

soy sauce in Japan and China, fermented milk beverages in Balkans and Central
Asia. Before World War I, the only product produced in large scale was ethanol.
During World War I, acetone-butanol fermentation was established. In the years
1941 – 1946, market for conventional products (antibiotics, germ warfare) was also
established. Thus, greatly interest the utilization of microorganisms.
Fermentation Products

Some foods need proper conditions to discourage the formation of bad

microbes. In a brine solution (salt, water, spices) process, anaerobic bacteria convert
carbohydrates into acetic acid that preserves the food. Vegetables cured with
vinegar are not naturally fermented. The acid of the vinegar preserves the food and
impart flavors. Vinegar does not ferment food, but a product of fermentation. Bread is
raised by the process of fermentation. Yeast eat the sugar, creates carbon-dioxide
gas doubling the amount of food, and produces alcohol that is burned off in baking.
(Walker, 2012)

Food products

 Milk - yogurt, kefir, fresh and ripened cheeses

 Fruits – wine, vinegar
 Vegetables - pickle, sauerkraut, soy sauce
 Meat - fermented sausages, salami

Industrial chemicals

 Solvents - acetone, butanol, ethanol

 Enzymes
 Amino acids

Specialty chemicals

 Vitamins
 Pharmaceuticals

Types of Fermentation
 Alcoholic Fermentation

In the first part, the yeast breaks down glucose to form 2 pyruvate molecules.
This part is known as glycolysis. Then, 2 pyruvate molecules are converted into 2
carbon dioxide molecules and 2 molecules of ethanol, otherwise known as
alcohol. However, before pyruvate can be converted to ethanol, it is first converted
into an intermediary molecule called acetaldehyde. This releases carbon dioxide.
Acetaldehyde is then converted into ethanol by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase
(enzyme not found in human). The second part is called fermentation (SparkNotes
Editors, n.d.).

 Lactic Acid Fermentation

The pyruvic acid from glycolysis is reduced to lactic acid by NADH, which is
oxidized to NAD+. This commonly occurs in muscle cells. Glycolysis takes place in
the cytosol of the cell and does not involve oxygen. The cells turn pyruvate, the
products of glycolysis, into lactic acid by the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH).
From the lactate product, lactic acid can be formed (SparkNotes Editors, n.d.).

Fermentation effects on food

Fermentation of foods is the controlled action of microorganisms to alter the
texture of food, to preserve and to produce characteristic flavors and aromas
(Pohorecki et. al., 2010).

Changes produced by fermentation in food

(Batty & Folkman, 1983; Fellows, 2000; Whitaker et. al., 1997)
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